Britain's Prince Edward was named yesterday as owing a "substantial" amount of money to a building firm which collapsed.
The debt related to renovation work at the prince's 50-room mansion, Bagshot Park in Surrey, which he shares with his wife, Sophie.
Media reports said the building firm, C.J. Sims, which went into receivership on Monday, collapsed after Edward refused to pay a £600,000 bill.
The receiver, Mr Keith Goodman, of the accountancy firm Leonard Curtis, confirmed that Edward, Queen Elizabeth's youngest son, had been named among the firm's debtors. He said the amount of the debt had not been finalised, "but according to the company it's a substantial figure".
The Daily Mail quoted an unnamed royal source as saying Prince Edward was involved in a dispute over the final cost of the work. "It is far greater than the two million-odd which was originally agreed when C.J. Sims won the contract. He sees no reason to pay the final bill until he knows exactly what he is paying for," the source said.
The source said Edward had paid most of the fee but had withheld the disputed amount, put by the Mail at £600,000.
The prince's role in the collapse of C.J. Sims was the second piece of unwelcome publicity for him and his wife this week. On Wednesday Sophie was forced to apologise for her "error of judgment" after being seen wearing a fox fur hat.
Sophie, a public relations executive, had been branded cruel and out of touch with public opinion after being photographed wearing the hat in the exclusive Swiss resort of St Moritz.